The human body can suffer from a variety of injuries and conditions which lessen the functional capacity of the individuals to perform employment related activities and/or leisure activities. When an individual suffers from an injury or a condition which lessens the functional capacity of the person, it is sometimes desireable to measure the extent to which the functional capacity has been lessened. Measuring, or assessing the functional capacity of the individual patient often involves comparing the patient's functional capacity to the functional capacities of others not afflicted with the injury or condition.
With respect to the upper extremities, it is often important to measure the loss of functional capacity for the arms, the hands, and the fingers, due to an injury or a condition. For example, injuries or conditions resulting from employment related activities may require assessment to evaluate and treat the employee, and to evaluate whether the employee can return to work. Repetitive motion disorders, such as Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, have become significant issues in the work place today. Persons afflicted with such disorders may benefit by a functional capacity assessment.
A variety of functional capacity losses are possible for the upper extremities due to an injury or condition which affects the functional capacity of the upper extremities. For example, the injury or condition may affect the person's ability to move the arms, the hands, and/or the fingers. In addition, the injury or condition may have affected the person's ability to use both hands simultaneously. Hand-eye coordination may be affected in some situations. The person's ability to handle small parts and the person's ability to handle tools may be impacted by the injury or condition. Speed and endurance are two aspects of a person's functional capacity that may also be affected by the person's injury or condition.
During an assessment of a patient, the patient carries out a particular test requiring use of at least some portion of the upper extremity. An observer records data from the test, such as whether the tasks requested of the patient are performed properly and how long the tasks took to be completed. In addition, the observer may look for pain behaviors and pain reports. The pain behaviors relate to movements or non-movements of the patient's body which indicate the presence of pain. Pain reports are statements or comments made by the patient during the assessment which reflect pain being felt by the patient.
Typically, the assessment involves an assessment device used by the patient which permits the observer to collect objective data by watching the patient manipulate or handle objects in a predetermined manner. The objective data may then be compared to some normalized results.
With respect to assessment systems and methods, several concerns are important. One concern is establishing tests which are useful in gathering objective data to compare to normalized data. A further concern is that the step of data gathering be fairly easy for the observer making the assessment of the patient. Another concern is that the assessment systems and methods address the problem of the wide variety of injuries and conditions which may require functional capacity assessment. Further, not all functional capacity losses are relevant for each desired activity by the patient. There is a concern that the functional capacity assessment be able to efficiently evaluate the injury or condition in terms of its relationship to the desired activity by the patient.
Functional capacity assessment systems and methods are known for evaluating the functional capacity of a person who has an injury or condition which has lessened the person's functional capacity in some manner. Many of the known upper extremity assessment devices are limited in use. For example, there are known devices that involve a single test for assessing particular functions of the upper extremities. However, these devices are not very useful for the wide variety of different assessments needed. Also, many of the known assessment devices are separate devices which are not useful in a functional capacity assessment system for testing other parts of the body and other functions of the body of the type sometimes used by assessment professionals, such as physical and occupational therapists, chiropractors, exercise physiologists and others.
A need exists in the prior art for assessment systems and methods which address the above concerns, especially providing easy observation, easy standardization, and the versatility to assess a wide variety of injuries and conditions and to address the growing needs of the health care and other industries.